Note: if you want to use ShAKY with a camera other than a Canon PowerShot ELPH160 or ELPH180, you should probably make the newer version, which generically fits many cameras and provides for Xsync synchronization.

ShAKY (Shift Angle KentuckY) is a little module designed to be mounted to the base of a Canon PowerShot ELPH160 or ELPH180, either of which can be reprogrammed using CHDK. Via a USB cable, ShAKY can continuously report 9 axis position data with sufficient accuracy to distinguish position changes that alter the sensor image by less than a single pixel shift. Why do that? Well, my lab at the University of Kentucky created it for a variety of research experiments involving new methods to obtain better images in the presence of camera shake.... It's posted here partly as documentation of our research, but also because the sensor assembly is surprisingly cheap and this packaging of it may serve as a good reference for coming up with packaging of the sensor module for other applications.

There are two circuit boards. The smaller (top-mounted) board is an $9 MPU9250/6500 9-Axis sensor module that measures movement in X, Y, Z, roll, pitch, and yaw as well as absolute X, Y, Z orientation using a magnetometer. The larger (bottom-mounted) board is a $6 Pro Micro ATmega32U4 Arduino that provides a programmable USB interface to the sensor. The USB interface also powers both boards. Thus, the entire unit cost is about $15.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Anycubic

Printer:

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Resolution:

0.2mm

Infill:

Filament: Silk PLA Silver

Notes:

Post-Printing =============

The connections must be made between the two boards before placing them in the body. We recommend direct soldering using wire-wrap wire.

The printed parts should require little, if any, postprocessing. The ATmega32U4 board is inserted first, face up, so that the USB connector pokes through the hole for it. Press the ATmega32U4 board flat and it will be a snug fit. The (attached by soldered wires) MPU board is then pressed, also face up, into its place overhanging the ATmega32U4 board. The cylindrical column should loosely fit inside one of the mounting holes in the board; once the board is flat, use a soldering iron to melt and squish the column to lock the board into place. Additional PLA could be used to tack-weld additional spots to help secure the boards, but it isn't necessary; the boards are a tight enough fit that the only way to remove them from the original test-fit prototype was to cut the PLA plastic.

Once assembled, ShAKY is simply bolted-onto the bottom of the PowerShot camera using the printed 1/4-20 screw. The design of ShAKY not only keeps everything neatly self-contained, but ensures that the sensor is held as close as possible to the camera's sensor and in a known orientation: X points out through the lens, Y points toward the USB connector, and Z points upward. ShAKY also mounts in such a way that the camera's battery + SD card are still fully accessible, which is why ShAKY mounts only on one side of the camera's base.

Category: Camera